Tigers and wild animals escape from Tuttle, Oklahoma zoo after tornado hits

© Sue Ogrocki/AP
A vehicle makes its way through deep water following heavy rain in Moore, Okla., Wednesday, May 6, 2015. Forecasters declared a tornado emergency for Moore.

    

A series of tornadoes, including a major twister, touched down southwest of Oklahoma City on Wednesday, flipping cars and causing the escape of tigers and other animals from an exotic wildlife park, officials said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries but some structures were damaged as a storm system brought severe weather to several Great Plains states, officials said.

Tigers and other animals were able to briefly escape from the Tiger Safari park after a tornado struck the city of Tuttle, about 30 miles (48km) south-west of Oklahoma City, though they were recaptured without further incident, the Grady County Sheriff's Office said.

Residents of Tuttle had been warned to stay indoors by authorities after the escape.

Meanwhile passengers, visitors and employees at the Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City were evacuated to a pedestrian tunnel for about 30 minutes as the storms moved through the area, the airport said on its Twitter feed.

The tornadoes flipped cars, downed power lines and snapped trees. Several roads were closed because of debris, the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said.

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Continual storms and heavy rain have hampered emergency responders from being able to fully assess the damage, and the National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency for downtown Oklahoma City.

Severe flooding was reported in the downtown Oklahoma City business district and South Oklahoma City, where local media reported a possible drowning victim after a flash flood.

The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for an area stretching from central Texas to central Nebraska, where millions of people live.

There had been about two dozen tornadoes reported in the area, it said.

In Oklahoma, a large tornado hit near Bridge Creek, southwest of Oklahoma City, the National Weather Service said, adding it was too early to tell how strong it was. Local broadcaster KFOR said it was about a mile wide.

The local sheriff's office was out in the field surveying damage and was not immediately available for comment.

The Oklahoma City suburb of Moore was placed under a tornado emergency. Moore was devastated by a tornado about two years ago that killed 24 and injured more than 300.

Earlier in the day the National Weather Service forecast the chance of tornadoes in parts of the great plains.

A weak tornado touched down in south-western Oklahoma shortly after 3pm, according to weather services meteorologist Michael Scotten.

"We've had at least one confirmed tornado, for sure," he said, adding no one was hurt or injured. "It's mainly hit open areas out there."

The tornado touched down between Cement and Anadarko. The Chickasha school district, which was in the path of the tornado, kept its students after school as a precaution.

Richard Thompson at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, noted that storms will likely be widely spaced apart.

"It's possible the hail at the very biggest could be tennis ball- or baseball-sized, but that would be very isolated," Thompson said.

"This is the first of potentially several days of a severe weather risk. There could be some pretty heavy rain overnight and eventually flooding could be a concern."